Thursday, May 28, 2015

CBC has unveiled the full schedule of its 2015-16 programming
following up on itsinitial announcementregarding
new shows. In continuation of its promise to host rich and original Canadian
content, the channel’s lineup includes 11 new productions. It has also unveiled
CBC Arts, a cross-platform art space with television and digital programming.

New
dramas include This
Life, a family drama based in Montreal about the journey Natalie
Lawson (Tori Higginson), a columnist in her early 40s, whose terminal cancer
diagnosis brings a tight-knit family together as they prepare for a life
without her. There is also When
Calls the Heart, a drama set in a 19th century western frontier
coal-mining town about Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow), a new school teacher
who leaves behind a privileged upper-class lifestyle to arrive here, in the
midst of a coal-mining accident and gets to know town constable, Jack Thornton
(Daniel Lissing).

Other
dramas includeBanishedby Bafta-winning writer Jimmy McGovern
of Cracker; Love Child,
which is based in a Sydney boarding house circa 1960s; Jekyll and Hyde and
the already-announcedThe
Romeo Section.

New
comedy offerings on CBC’s slate include Fool
Canada, in which MADtv’sWill
Sasso travels across Canada armed with a team of comedians and hidden cameras,
poking fun at all things Canadian.Young Drunk Punkmoves
to CBC from Rogers and there is also Please Like Me, a dramatic comedy starring Josh Thomas
about a day in his life when everything goes wrong. Finally, there is Raised
by Wolves, about a mother and her six home-schooled children.

The
CBC Arts showcase offers a diverse portfolio of Canadian content.Crash Gallery is a
four-person talent competition,Exhibitionistsis a
30-minute series on average citizens creating art, and Interrupt this Program,
is about political art in underbelly of traumatized cities like Beirut,
Sarajevo and Port-au-Prince.

The Collective is a collaboration with
Toronto’s Secret Location and allows artists from collectives across the
country to produce content for the show. Two webseries - Canada in the Frame andThe
Re-Education of Eddy Rogorevolve
around a pop-up-art gallery and an art collector who challenges himself to
change things up a bit.

The
CBC slate also includes a new series for comedy portal Punchline called Body Buds, about two
former fitness personalities and the previously announced Riftworld: Chronicles, a
sci-fi/fantasy series starring Erin Karpluk and Tahmoh Penikett and Munro
Chambers.

The
schedule also includes three new factual programming shows: Still Standing, about
comedian Jonny Harris’ travels across Canada as he mines his experience to
produce content for stand-up shows in small towns. Keeping Alive Canada,
a six-part series on the Canadian healthcare system and Hello Goodbye, on
emotional reunions and farewells at Toronto’s Pearson airport hosted by Dale
Curd.

The slate also includes a new
docs strand called First Hand that will showcase the best of Canadian
documentary work.

CBC will be also be
broadcasting the Pan Am Games between July 10 and 26.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Radio’s
share of local auto dollars to remain above 10%: report. The average auto dealer will spend
more than $640,000 on local advertising this year, according to a new report
from BIA/Kelsey. Combined with what the carmakers will spend in the local
market, it projects $11.3 billion will be spent on local media across all
automotive sectors — or
more than one out every 10 dollars spent in local advertising. While
more dollars are shifting to digital and mobile, the vast majority of
automotive ad budgets are earmarked for traditional media. BIA/Kelsey forecasts
77% will go to tried-and-true advertising outlets this year. Radio’s share is
estimated at 11.6% for 2015, slipping a point to 10.6% by 2019. “Radio is still
an important part of an advertising mix and even as the average quarter hour
numbers decrease a little bit, radio still reaches a very sizable portion of
Americans,” BIA/Kelsey chief economist Mark Fratrik says. “If you have a local
auto dealer with a 72 hour sale this weekend they can be pretty sure he can
reach a larger number of people if he does an advertising buy across the top
three to five radio stations.” Online radio remains a bit player. The report
pegs its share at 0.6% this year, forecasting it to inch up slightly to 0.8% by
2019. That’s in contrast to the rest of digital ad spending, which is forecast
to grow 12% a year over the next five years. As a result, BIA/Kelsey estimates
30% of all local auto ad dollars will go toward digital by 2019 compared to 12%
today. “Broadcasters can play in this game in a big way by showing that
multimedia campaigns are complementary and better than just going straight TV,
radio or online,” Fratrik says.

Why radio
is different from newspapers for car dealers. Over the next five years local newspapers are projected to lose a third
of their auto-related advertising dollars. BIA/Kelsey forecasts their
current share will fall below radio, shrinking to 9.9%, down from their current
14.7%. “There’s an interesting contrast,” BIA/Kelsey’s Mark Fratrik says. “Newspapers will not maintain
their share like radio and TV because they play a different type of role.”
More consumers are heading
to the internet to gather information for their car buying research, which he
believes has supplanted the role of the local newspaper for car dealers.
“TV is an image with beautiful women and good looking guys driving fancy cars,
and radio is a complement
to that by providing information about local dealers and sales,” Fratrik
says. “I think that has a lot to do with the advertising mix.” That’s backed up by National
Auto Dealers Association data which shows local dealers boosted radio spending 14.5% in 2014 to
$1.16 billion. As more is spent on digital, the analysis points to most
of the new dollars flowing into mobile advertising which Fratrik expects will
resemble TV strategies with mobile video dominating. The BIA/Kelsey report —
the latest in its series on various advertising verticals — also points out there’s more to
the overall auto ad sector than just car dealers. There are also auto parts
stores, tire dealers, and motorcycle and RV dealers. Not to mention gas
stations, which AdMall estimates spent an average of $29,000 per location on
local advertising last year.